Hotelier Award winner to speak at Dubai Spa Summit

Hotelier Award winner Neil Hewerdine, vice president of spa services at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai, has joined the stellar line-up of speakers at the Hotelier Middle East Spa & Wellness Summit, being held from February 10-11 at Grosvenor House Dubai.

Hewerdine, named Hotelier Middle East Fitness / Spa Person of the Year Award in 2013, will speak on a panel entitled Spa Success – The Factors Leading The Way, along with Aiobheanna Bonner, director of spa, Fairmont - The Palm Jumeirah; Souhel El-Achbah, spa director, Six Senses Zighy Bay; Salina Handa, founder & managing director, SensAsia Urban Spa; and Lindsay Madden-Nadeau, regional spa director UAE, MSPA International.

The panel, which will be moderated by Ebrahim Malekzadeh, chief executive officer, Esadore International, is designed to dig deep into how exactly to create — and then maintain — a successful spa.

Hewerdine asserted that one of the major factors impacting continued success would be “therapist legislation and training”.

He said investing into the “long-discussed retail and motivational techniques for spa colleagues” would pay dividends.

He explained: “Innovation, education, investment into training, empowerment and development of spa colleagues —this yields confident strong professional spa therapists who will have the ability to promote your business at a high quality level . Quality is a non-negotiable expectation of spa consumers now, and will only become stronger”.

Madden-Nadeau, who oversees multiple Anantara spas in the UAE, said focusing on customer service would be key going forward.

“Spas can actually be very simple — they need to provide a comfortable environment, good service and value for money. For the guest it is about the service provided. We are lucky that the evolution of spas has brought the environment to a whole new level, however if service is not there, guests will not return.”

For more insights and of-the-moment topical chatter, make sure your spa manager attends the summit on February 10-11 — attendance is free for spa professionals.

To register attendance, please contact amanda.elisha@itp.com

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact diarmuid.omalley@itp.com